Western Michigan holds second spring scrimmage
Published 6:03 pm Sunday, April 10, 2011
KALAMAZOO — Western Michigan football held its second scrimmage of the spring and its first on the turf of Waldo Stadium in front of a throng of fans awaiting the seventh annual youth clinic on Saturday morning.
The Bronco defense and ground game were the stars of the action.
WMU running backs racked up 142 yards on 33 carries (4.3 yards per carry) led by Tevin Drake’s 95 yards on 17 carries. Drake had runs of 18 and 34 yards to highlight his morning and was the Broncos’ entire offense on one series. Starting on the 25-yard line, Drake took the ball around the right for 18 yards and then up the middle for four yards to the three-yard line. The rising sophomore finished the job with a three-yard run through traffic for the score.
Antoin Scriven did most of his work in the passing game. He scored once on a screen play from eight yards out and again on another screen from 10 yards out. On the second score, going around the left, Scriven bowled through a pair of defenders on his way to the end zone.
Defensively, the Broncos were in and out of the backfield the entire scrimmage and stuffed runs up the middle throughout. Drew Nowak was active throughout the scrimmage, getting into the backfield an dropping Brian Fields for a three-yard loss. He and Paul Hazel converged on Alex Carder, who finished 10-for-17 for 140 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
Carder found Scriven on a screen pass on the second series of the scrimmage and later found Dallas Walker from 21 yards out down the middle.
Linebacker Nick Galvin also was in on a pair of running-stuffing tackles on Saturday morning, stopping Drake twice for no gain and once on a goal-line stand on fourth down. Brendon Gannon and Doug Wiggins also recorded tackles for losses on Saturday.
The defensive backfield was active as well, led by Scott Hinds who had the lone interception of the day, intercepting Mike Perish who was 9-of-12 for 79 yards for a touchdown as well, and Garrett Smith who had a pair of pass break ups. Lewis Toler had a pass break up on the second play from scrimmage and Dervon Wallace nearly had a second interception for the defense.
Eric Monette continued his fine play this spring with a team best 71 yards on just three catches. Robert Arnheim had 22 yards on three catches, as did E.J. Riley.
The Broncos continue spring practice on Tuesday, leading into the annual Brown & Gold game on Saturday.
Admission is a canned food item and is open to the public. There is an alumni flag football game with 24 former Broncos scheduled to participate, including current coaches Ryan Cubit and Jake Moreland.
Western Michigan athletics and the Bronco football team invites students to the annual Brown & Gold Spring Game on Saturday, April 16. The event is sponsored by WMU Athletics and will provide free food on the Wal-Mart Deck to the first 300 students. Also, help the Bronco football team give back to the community by bringing canned food items to the game and the Broncos will donate them to the local food pantry.
FREE parking is available in lots surrounding Waldo Stadium.